The Mouse Castle Lounge 02-26-2015 - Disney Animator James Lopez, Part One

By Tim Callaway

Animator James Lopez

I like James Lopez for a number of reasons, not the least of which is when he was a kid, he was a master of the video game Dragon’s Lair. That was the laserdisc arcade game created by Don Bluth in the early 1980s after Bluth had departed Disney Animation. Dirk the Daring, the evil dragon, Princess Daphne—I loved that game. Anyway, the beauty of if all is that as a young animator, James later worked for Bluth on the 1991 film Rock-a-Doodle. It's a nerd thing.

James attended CalArts and found early success in animation. He would go on to have a lengthy career at Disney. His animation credits include Timon in The Lion King, Wiggins in Pocahontas and Pain in Hercules. He also worked on The Emperor’s New Groove, Home on the Range, The Princess and the Frog and the Oscar-winning short Paperman.

James is a gifted artist who excels in 2D, hand-drawn animation. These days he’s keeping the art alive by animating and directing a personal project, the steampunk adventure Hullabaloo, which he successfully crowd funded last year on Indiegogo. But more on that next week. Today, in part one of our two-part conversation, James and I talk about his early career and how he literally had to learn his craft on the job. James Lopez is my guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

Related: The Mouse Castle Lounge 02-26-2015 - Disney Animator James Lopez, Part Two

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